Skip to main content

Biden warns Netanyahu risks losing support for Hamas war

US President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday that the country risked losing global support for its war against Hamas because of its "indiscriminate" bombing of Gaza.

In his most blunt remarks since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, which provoked the current conflict, Biden told donors that Netanyahu needed to "change" his stance on a two-state solution for the Palestinians.

US President Joe Biden has warned Israel is starting to lose global support amid "indiscriminate" bombing in Gaza

Libya sends illegal migrants home to Egypt and Nigeria

Libya on Tuesday repatriated nearly 1,000 migrants from Egypt and Nigeria who had been staying in the North African country illegally, officials and AFP journalists said.

The 664 Egyptians were to be taken by bus to the Emsaed border post with Egypt, nearly 1,400 kilometres (870 miles) east of Tripoli.

General Mohamad Bardaa, who heads the country's anti-immigration body affiliated to the interior ministry, said 300 Nigerians were taken to the airport to be flown home.

Egyptian migrants awaiting deportation by the Tripoli-based government

Palestinian economy severely impacted by Israel-Hamas war: World Bank

The Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is having a severe impact on the Palestinian economy, the World Bank said Tuesday, adding that a sharp economic contraction is likely this year and next.

"The loss of life, speed and extent of damages to fixed assets and reduction in income flows across the Palestinian territories are unparalleled," the World Bank said in a statement.

The conflict, now dragging into its third month, has resulted in the death of more than 18,400 people in Gaza, the majority of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The World Bank estimates that the economic damage from the conflict will be severe

Campaigners 'losing trust in COP', says leading activist

Environmental campaigners are losing faith in the UN-led COP climate process after signs that a phase-out of fossil fuels may not be agreed in Dubai, a leading activist said on Tuesday.

Uganda's Vanessa Nakate, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, said activists were tired of being disappointed at the annual United Nations conferences to battle climate change.

She was speaking after the latest COP28 draft agreement dropped any mention of winding down fossil fuels, speaking only of a potential reduction in consumption and production.

Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate poses for a photograph at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi on September 4

Biden, UN General Assembly pile pressure on Israel's Hamas war

Pressure intensified on Israel on Tuesday as US President Joe Biden warned it risked losing support in its war on Hamas by "indiscriminate" bombing in Gaza and the UN General Assembly demanded a ceasefire.

Israeli forces battled Hamas militants and bombed more targets in the devastated Gaza Strip more than two months into the war sparked by the Palestinian group's unprecedented October 7 attack.

But Israel's staunchest ally warned it risked losing backing over the terrible humanitarian toll in Gaza, which the United Nations likened to "hell on earth".

Israeli forces shell Gaza from the border area in southern Israel on December 12

Middle East leaders have few answers for 'day after' Gaza war

Middle East leaders gathered in Qatar sought ideas for what happens after the Gaza war, but remained firmly opposed to putting their own troops or international forces into the ravaged territory.

The Palestinian question is extremely delicate for leaders in the Arab world, where the war has sparked massive protests in several countries.

At the annual Doha Forum that ended Monday, Qatar reiterated that no Arab country would send in forces to stabilise the situation after the guns of Israel and Hamas fall silent.

The Gaza war has claimed more than 18,000 lives, according to the Hamas-run health ministry

West Bank economy suffers as Palestinians lose Israeli jobs

West Bank Palestinian Ibrahim al-Qiq lost his Israeli job permit after the Gaza war began, sinking him into despair and debt like thousands of others in the occupied territory.

The war between Israel and Hamas may be happening in Gaza, a separate Palestinian territory on the other side of Israel, but its impact is being powerfully felt in the West Bank.

Israel terminated work permits for Palestinians from both the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza following the Hamas attacks on October 7 that triggered the war, leaving many people like Qiq struggling to survive.

The Kharas supermarket will lose almost all its staff this month as the economy collapses

Yemen's Huthi rebels claim attack on Norway-flagged tanker

Yemen's Huthi rebels claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a missile strike on a Norwegian-flagged tanker, an attack the Iran-backed group said was part of its military campaign against Israel.

Norwegian shipowner J. Ludwig Mowinckels Rederi said the overnight strike on the Strinda caused a fire that the crew, all Indian nationals, were able to extinguish and that no one was hurt.

The Huthis said the ship was carrying oil bound for Israel -- a claim denied by the owners of the 144-metre (472-foot) vessel that was sailing towards the Suez Canal.

A Yemeni coastguard member loyal to the internationally recognised government in a patrol boat in the Red Sea off of the government-held town of Mokha, close to the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, on December 12, 2023

Israeli forces kill 4 Palestinians in West Bank: ministry

Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday, the Palestinian health ministry reported.

The ministry did not provide further details on the fatalities, but the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said they were killed in a drone strike on the Old City.

Violence has escalated in the occupied territory after war broke out between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, with around 270 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire and settler attacks there since October 7, Palestinian officials say.

Israeli military vehicles arrive at the entrance to the Jenin refugee camp

EU awards Mahsa Amini rights prize as Iran blocks family

The European Parliament on Tuesday presented a top EU rights prize to Mahsa Amini, whose death in Iranian custody sparked mass protests, but her family was blocked by Tehran from attending.

The award -- also for the broader "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement -- is the latest international recognition for the women challenging Iran's religious government after jailed activist Narges Mohammadi was given the Nobel Peace Prize.

Mahsa Amini's death in Iranian custody sparked mass protests and a global movement